Lemon Italian Ice (Ninja Creami, Italian Ice Program)

Italian ice has no fat and no dairy, so its texture depends entirely on the sugar ratio: too little and the block freezes glass hard, too much and it never sets. This base lands at about 26 percent sugar by weight, two thirds of a cup of sugar plus a tablespoon of corn syrup in a cup and a quarter of water, with half a cup of fresh lemon juice to keep the sweetness in check. We tested it on the Ninja Creami Deluxe NC501 in a 24 oz XL tub on the Italian Ice program, frozen 24 hours at 0 F, and it scooped with zero re-spins. Each serving is an estimated 150 kcal, 0 g protein, 39 g carbs and 0 g fat.

Tested recipe

Lemon Italian Ice

A fat-free, dairy-free lemon Italian ice with a fine, granular texture, made from water, sugar, fresh lemon juice and zest.

Italian Ice (Sorbet on other models)NC5010 re-spins

Prep

10 min

Freeze

24 h

Process

3 min

Total

24 h 13 min

Servings

4 per pint

16 oz pint24 oz XL tub

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups (300 g) water
• 2/3 cup (133 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp (20 g) light corn syrup
• 1 tbsp (6 g) finely grated lemon zest, from about 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup (120 g) fresh lemon juice, from about 3 lemons
• 1/8 tsp fine salt

Equipment

• Ninja Creami NC501
• 24 oz Deluxe XL tub (16 oz pint on NC301 and NC351)

Method

1. Heat the water, sugar, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest.
3. Cool the syrup to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
4. Stir in the lemon juice.
5. Pour the base through a sieve into the tub or pint, stopping at the max fill line.
6. Lid the container and freeze it for 24 hours on a level surface.
7. Lock the frozen tub into the outer bowl, fit it to the machine and press Italian Ice (Sorbet on the NC301, NC351, NC601 or NC701).
8. If the surface is crumbly, press Re-spin once.
9. Scoop into cups, or level the top, lid and refreeze.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Calories

150 kcal

Protein

0 g

Carbs

39 g

Fat

0 g

Program: Italian Ice (Sorbet on other models) · Tested on NC501 · By Mike Lala

Tips

• Freeze the tub level. A pure sugar and water base shows every tilt, and a sloped block gave us a slushy thin side and a crumbly thick side on the Italian Ice cycle; the flat-top rule is the difference between one spin and three.
• Cool the syrup before adding the lemon juice. Hot syrup cooks off the fresh aroma, and our tub made with juice added to boiling syrup tasted like lemon candy rather than fresh lemon.
• If the surface is crumbly after the first spin, press Re-spin once. The NC501 re-spin runs 85 seconds. Only before a second re-spin add 1 tbsp of water; adding water earlier turned our test tub to slush. The re-spin guide covers the rule in full.
• Weigh the sugar if you can. Cup measurements of sugar vary by 10 percent depending on how they are scooped, and that margin is enough to change whether this base scoops in one pass.
• Let the processed tub sit in the freezer for 10 minutes with the lid on before serving if you want it firmer. Italian ice melts faster than ice cream because it has no fat.

Variations

• Strawberry lemon: replace 1/2 cup (120 g) of the water with strained strawberry puree, a cross between this recipe and our strawberry sorbet.
• Lemon basil: steep 6 fresh basil leaves with the zest in the warm syrup and strain them out with it.
• Lime or grapefruit: swap the lemon juice for the same weight of fresh lime juice, or ruby grapefruit juice with 2 tbsp less sugar because grapefruit is sweeter.

Storage and refreeze

Level the remaining Italian ice with a spoon, lid the tub and return it to a flat shelf at 0 F for 24 hours. Sugar and water bases refreeze cleanly because there is no fat or protein structure to damage: our test tub went through three refreezes over a week and scooped every time after the Italian Ice program, with one Re-spin needed on the third day. The texture becomes slightly coarser with each refreeze, which many people prefer in Italian ice. Keep the lid on tight; a water-based block picks up freezer odors within two days if left open, and the lemon flavor cannot hide them. The XL tub serves six and the 16 oz pint serves four.

The model and pints we used

We made this in the 24 oz XL tubs that ship with the NC501; they also fit the NC601, and the spare 2-pack is on the Deluxe XL tubs page. Owners of the NC301 and NC351 should use the pint quantities in the originals on the pints page and run the Sorbet program, which took our mango sorbet base to smooth with zero re-spins on both machines. The NC501 measured 86 dB at 1 m. The sugar percentage targets for water and fruit bases are in the base ratios cheat sheet, and our other granitas and ices are in the Italian ice hub.

Frequently asked questions

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